The prevailing notion among NBA types—including Lakers coach Mike Brown and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon—is that this year’s compressed schedule has been a major factor in season-ending injuries, most notably the torn ACL suffered by Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard’s herniated disc.

NBA commissioner David Stern disagrees with that sentiment.

NBA commissioner David Stern said the lockout is not to blame for ACL injuries to Iman Shumpert and Derrick Rose. (AP Photo)

Dr. David Altchek, an NBA consultant, said, "There is no evidence that wear and tear, or that kind of issue, playing too much, really has any correlation with ACL injuries in any sport that we've ever studied. In fact, I think if you're tired (from a condensed schedule), you're a lot less likely to tear your ACL because you're not going to be as explosive."

But Rose himself suggested the truncated schedule did contribute to his injury.

"When you think about it, that's the only thing that changed," Rose said. "The way I work out is usually the same, even though I ran more than I usually did in the past. But I really don't know what to blame it on. Where they're just like freak accident, freak injuries, where it's just happening."

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doug Collins concurred, saying, "I don't think there's any question (the schedule has led to injuries). The wear and tear—I don't think there's any question, the fatigue. What happens during the playoffs, it gets ratcheted up even more. All of a sudden in two games, you've seen (Knicks guard Iman) Shumpert, D-Rose. Howard was out before the playoffs started. (Clippers forward) Caron Butler broke a hand last night.”

Stern did concede on ESPN Radio that the league is not done looking into the matter. “It’s still worthy of our study at season’s end to see how that works out," he said. "I mean, we want to find out if we can learn something from this. But, basically, in most years we average about five ACLs, and prior to this year’s playoffs, we had three—from a schedule where we played two more games a month.”